Title: William M. Kraus Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1964-1969

Creator:

• Kraus, William M.

Call Number: Mss 668; Tape 1121A; AC 378

Quantity: 1.6 c.f. (1 record center carton and 2 archives boxes), 1 tape recording, and 1 film

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of William M. Kraus, a Wisconsin insurance executive and Republican Party leader, pertaining to his chairmanship of the Knowles for Governor reelection campaigns of 1966 and 1968. Included are correspondence with Ody Fish, Paul Hassett, various local political leaders, and representatives of the McDonald Davis public relations firm, memoranda, campaign literature and advertisements, statistics, reports, and vote analyses.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00668

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Insurance executive and Wisconsin Republican Party leader William M. Kraus was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin, on March 5, 1926. He received a liberal arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1946 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin law school in 1949, although he apparently never practiced. Kraus was associated with Sentry Insurance of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for almost 30 years. At the time of his resignation in 1978 he held the title of vice-president.

Kraus was very active in Republican politics in Wisconsin. In 1966 and 1968 he was state chairman of the Knowles for Governor reelection campaigns. In 1978 he was an early supporter of gubernatorial candidate Lee S. Dreyfus, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Kraus managed Dreyfus' upset victory in the Republican primary over Robert Kasten and then spearheaded Dreyfus' victory over Acting Governor Martin Schreiber in the general election.

During the Dreyfus administration Kraus served as press secretary and was regarded by many as one of the most powerful members of state government. Because of his personal outspokenness and his liberal Republican views Kraus was also often the center of political controversy. In 1982 Dreyfus appointed Kraus as Director of the Department of Development. Following Dreyfus' decision not to seek a second term Kraus published Let the People Decide, an account of the 1978 campaign. During 1983 he worked briefly as a political columnist for Madison's Capital Times before accepting a position as vice-president for public relations, advertising, and corporate and political communications for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York City.

The collection consists of Kraus' files as state chairman of the 1966 and 1968 reelection campaigns for Governor Warren P. Knowles. There are no files on his involvement in the Dreyfus campaign of 1978 or his work as Dreyfus' press secretary.

Included in the papers are correspondence, memoranda, campaign literature samples and ads, statistics, reports, and voting analyses. The material is arranged chronologically by campaign and alphabetically by subject. Documentation is particularly complete for the 1966 campaign, for which there is virtually no aspect of campaigning that is unrepresented. The sole exception is financial records, and because Republican funds were then raised by unified state dinners and special events and not by individual candidate solicitations this was not a major aspect of the party's campaigns at that time. Students of the impact of television on election campaigns will find Kraus' papers a rewarding subject for study. The papers are supplemented by the records of the McDonald Davis public relations firm held by the Historical Society which contain examples of the much-acclaimed spots shot by the Maysles Brothers in 1966, as well as raw footage used to prepare the ads.

The collection includes extensive correspondence between Kraus; State Party Chairman Ody J. Fish; Paul Hassett, executive secretary to Governor Knowles; and representatives of the McDonald Davis advertising firm which deal with the strategic planning for the campaign and its day-to-day management. There are also files of correspondence to various local and district chairmen and field representatives. Numerous mimeographed memoranda speak to the high degree to which the campaign was organized. The collection is supplemented by lengthy analyses of the results and the strengths and weaknesses of the 1966 and 1968 campaigns which are unidentified as to author but apparently written by Kraus.

The radio and television ads produced for the campaign are catalogued with the Historical Society's McDonald Davis holdings. The Kraus Papers include two rather miscellaneous media items: a compilation of radio spots (1964-1966) apparently assembled for campaign leaders to review and some raw footage of Knowles fishing which may be the footage shot in 1966 because of Knowles' dislike of the Maysles Brothers spots.

Acquisition Information

Presented by William M. Kraus, Madison, Wisconsin, April 13, 1982, via S. Joseph Woodka. Accession Number: M82-148

Processing Information

Processed by Carolyn Mattern, 1986.

Mss 668 Box   1 Folder   1	, 1964 campaign literature
	1966
Box   1 Folder   2	Budgets, 1966-1967
Box   1 Folder   3	Coordinated campaign committee, “Campaign Facts”
Box   1 Folder   4	Derouin, James (Field man)
	District coordinators
Box   1 Folder   5	General
Box   1 Folder   6	First District
Box   1 Folder   7	Second District
Box   1 Folder   8	Third District
Box   1 Folder   9	Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth districts (Milwaukee)
Box   1 Folder   10	Sixth District
Box   1 Folder   11	Seventh District
Box   1 Folder   12	Eighth District
Box   1 Folder   13	Tenth District
Box   1 Folder   14	Fish, Ody J.
Box   1 Folder   15	Goldsmith, Jane (Campaign secretary)
Box   1 Folder   16	Hassett, Paul
Box   1 Folder   17	Literature
Box   1 Folder   18	McDonald Davis
Box   1 Folder   19	Ad authorizations
Box   1 Folder   20	McIver, John (Urban coordinator)
	Manual
Box   1 Folder   21	Drafts by Derouin and Whitburn
Box   1 Folder   22	Kraus annotations
Box   1 Folder   23	Miller, A.J.
Box   1 Folder   24	Miscellany
Box   1 Folder   25	Newspaper advertisements
	Schedule
Box   1 Folder   26-27	Correspondence for Knowles schedule
Box   1 Folder   28	Kraus schedule
Box   1 Folder   29	Statistics
Box   1 Folder   30	Strategy issues
Box   1 Folder   31	Television correspondence
Box   1 Folder   32	Television schedule
Box   1 Folder   33	Thanks and congratulations
Box   1 Folder   34	Whitburn, Jerry (Field man)
	1968
Box   2 Folder   1	Advertising strategy
Box   2 Folder   2	Budget correspondence and authorizations
Box   2 Folder   3	Campaign Central telephone bank
Box   2 Folder   4	Fish, Ody J.
Box   2 Folder   5	General - Knowles for Governor Committee
Box   2 Folder   6	Goldsmith, Jane
Box   3 Folder   1	Literature
Box   3 Folder   2	McDonald Davis
Box   3 Folder   3	Manual
Box   3 Folder   4	Scheduling
Box   3 Folder   5	Summaries Note: Includes 1966 and 1968
Box   3 Folder   6	Thanks and congratulations
Box   3 Folder   7	Undated notes (Kraus handwriting)
Tape 1121A	Selection of campaign spots from various states, 1964-1968 Scope and Content Note: Compiled for review in conjunction with the selection of advertising strategy for the Knowles for Governor re-election campaign of 1966. Among the spots are some by Rod Serling for Eugene McCarthy. There are also some in the voices of Nelson A. Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater. Probably compiled 1968.
AC 378	Knowles Fishing Trips, 1966? Physical Description: 1 reel; 102'; si; color; 16 mm archival positive  Scope and Content Note: Spliced footage of Warren Knowles fishing on the lakes of northern Wisconsin. It is likely that this footage was shot because of Knowles' displeasure with the Maysles spots and that the finished spots were shown to the Madison audience.